“If I have a room full of 10 people, eight out of 10 would love to go to space if they could afford it,” Sir Richard told CNBC.

“It is up to us to produce as many spaceships as we can to cater with that demand.”

His announcement comes shortly after rival SpaceX unveiled the first private passenger it plans to fly around the Moon.

The mission is planned for 2023, and would be the first lunar journey by humans since 1972.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has said his space travel firm Blue Origin will launch a manned mission into space by 2019. Mr Bezos didn’t clarify if he meant crew or fare-paying passengers.

Earlier this month, Blue Origin also announced that it is launching a non-profit group with Airbus, the European Space Agency, Agencia Espacial Mexicana, and French construction company Vinci Construction to explore ways to colonise the moon.

A start-up has recreated classic video game cabinets but at a much smaller size than the originals. Chris Foxx was given a demo of the desk-sized device and other unusual games machines at the E3 expo in Los Angeles. Read and watch all our coverage from E3 at bbc.co.uk/e3 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-44492937 Facebook Twitter Google+ Pinterest LinkedIn

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